Harambe the gorilla's tragic death is raising critical questions about the nature of zoos

On May 29, a relatively rare occurrence ended in tragedy:
Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla, was shot and
killed at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden after a
3-year-old boy fell into his enclosure.

The incident has sparked a heated national debate about whether
Harambe's death was necessary, and who was responsible for it.

One the important issues raised regards zoo security,
specifically how to protect enclosures from small, fast, and
unpredictable children.

But the emotional nature of Harambe's death has triggered many to
ask if there's a foolproof way to keep potentially dangerous
animals in captivity safely and humanely — and whether it's worth
trying to do so.

Why zoos?

Perhaps the strongest argument for zoos is that they play a role
in the fight against extinction.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates that
10,000 species go extinct every year. Zoos can act as a
fail-safe for those species that are rapidly disappearing the
wild.

Higher-profile zoos, like the nationally recognized
Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago and the St. Louis Zoo,
have entire centers devoted to conservation and study of species
on the brink, gathering information that — with any luck — will
improve the lot of their wild counterparts.

While less scientific, popular sentiment is that zoos also
provide a benefit for the human public: Heightened
compassion and care for animals, even those in far-flung
places.

The thinking goes that if a zoo can inspire a sense of wonder in
children and adults, then maybe people will be more motivated to
take steps to help protection efforts through donations or
volunteer work.

Improving animal welfare

Zoos weren't always like this. Their early
history is a dark one: Animal welfare and conservation
efforts weren't always on the radar for zookeepers, and animals
often died in cramped cages.

In the late 1800s, a
new trend started. Instead of keeping animals in pens,
zookeepers tried to mimic their natural ecosystems, at least
aesthetically. While still not perfect, this represented a huge
shift in zoo's relationship to their animals.

Centuries later, stressed animals and high death rates are far
less common but still a reality.

The biggest improvement to the lives of animals, and one of the
biggest challenges for urban zoos, is space. Animals who roam
large territories in their home ecosystem don't
fare well in small enclosures.

REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

What's more, the life of an animal on near-constant display can
be grueling — several zoos have reported their animals suffer
from psychological maladies we usually think of as distinctly
human, including
obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.

Some zoos try to fix this by using illusions to trick the animals
into thinking their spaces are larger than they are: Mirrors, diagonal
walls, and fog machines are meant to simulate the animals'
nature environments.

Zoos that have more space (and an amenable climate) can practice
"landscape
immersion," which relies not on optical illusions but actual
space that includes features of their home ecosystems
(grasslands, for example).

There's a worry that these expansive exhibits
don't guarantee the kind of up-close experience visitors have
come to expect from zoos — but as our opinions about animal
welfare and the purpose of zoos evolves, perhaps our expectations
of the "zoo experience" will, too.

Increasing visitor safety

While relatively uncommon, especially given the number of
visitors zoos receive each year, children and occasionally adults
fall or climb into enclosures.

Harambe's death is still being investigated, but he's not the
first to die this way — in fact,
42 zoo animals have been killed since 1990 in the interest of
saving human lives. (This number includes animals killed after
escaping.)

There's a delicate balancing act between connecting visitors to
animals and providing sufficient barriers to entry for reckless
adults and curious children.

"I think there has to be some fault placed with the zoo," wrote
Debra Curtin, president of the New England Primate Conservancy,
as a
guest contributor for the Boston Herald. "Because something
is not right with their enclosure that the child was even able to
get there."

Harambe's cage at the Cincinnati Zoo was outfitted with a moat,
but Curtin argues this was insufficient to separate the unnamed
boy from Harambe, who was caught on-camera dragging the child
through the water.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
told Vice News that the gorilla habitat should've had a
"secondary barrier," which might have kept the boy and Harambe
separated, even after he climbed the barrier and fell 10 or more
feet into the moat.

Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard, however,
told Cincinnati.com that the enclosure, known as Gorilla
World, is considered safe by zoo standards, and passed inspection
from both the US Department of Agriculture and Association of
Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

"The exhibit is safe, the barrier is safe," Maynard said. "The
zoo was not negligent."

Mourners at Harambe's statue.John Minchillo/AP

There is also a question of timing. According to Vox, zoo
officials weren't notified of the boy's entrance into Gorilla
World for
10 minutes after the fact. (Tech Insider contacted the
Cincinnati Zoo about the alleged delay but didn't immediately
receive a response.)

Secondary barriers, like the multiple layers of glass and metal
frames used by
several zoos around the country, and a better way of
notifying zoo staff immediately might improve safety.

George Houthof, CEO of Houthoff Zoo Design, emphasized that
safety measures should take into account the unpredictability of
small children
in an interview with CNN.

"Kids are kids... [but] I think it's the zoos' responsibility to
ensure the safety of their visitors," he said. "That means making
sure that exhibits are childproof."

In a
statement released June 2, the zoo announced its plans to
re-open the gorilla exhibit with a new, 3.5-foot barrier made out
of solid wood and rope netting. But the larger debate about the
purpose and design of zoos seems far from over, if history is any
guide.